Doppelganger

Dory Previn

I seem to see this stranger almost everywhere
I do not wish to frighten you, but you should know he's there,
So that if you're threatened, if evil's ever done,
You'll know it's him who did it,
You'll know that he's the one

His looks are ordinary, but he does things in the dark,
He hides inside the shadows watching children in the park,
He whispers things in subways, you'd tremble with alarm,
I tell you he will get to you, he's out to do you harm

I've seen him in the headlines, and on the evening news,
I saw him on the sidelines when stones were thrown at Jews,
And marching in Montgomery, pretending that he cared,
I saw him wink, as though some old conspiracy were shared

He was in the crowd in Dallas, at the close of Camelot,
I spotted him on campus, when the students had been shot,
In an oriental village, with civilians left to rot,
He was hanging out with soldiers, trading heroin for pot,
And he was smiling, smiling

Last night I found obscenities scrawled across my wall,
I swear I can't repeat the filthy words that I recall,
And then the most immoral, damned insulting thing of all,
As I read each line
I noticed
his handwriting
was identical
with mine